Bull.lndlnst.Hist.Med. Vol XXVII. 1991.pp. 25 to 32

ARUNADATTA AND HEl\1ADRI SCHOLIASTS OFASHTANGA HRIDAYA

P.K.J.P. SUBHAKTA*

ABSTRACTArunadatta who wrote the famous 'Sarvanga Sundara' commentary on Ashtanga

Hridaya, was the son of Mrigankadatta and a multi-farious scholar having vast knowledgeof several branches of ancient learnings. It is said that he was a native of Bengal and livedin the early period of 13th century, earlier to Hemadri. It is also believed that apart fromthe Sarvanga Sundara commentary, he wrote a commentary on Sushruta Samhita alsoand composed another work entitled 'Manushyalaya Chandrika' dealing with geology andarchitecture.

Hemadri was an eminent scholar who wrote the famous commentary on AshtangaHridya entitled Ayurveda Rasayana. This commentary has commanded great respectfrom all the Ayurvedic scholars for being an erudite dissertation. Besides this work it isalso believed, that, he wrote several other works such as Chaturvarga Chintamani.Sraddhapaddhati, Hemadriprayoga etc.

1. ARUNADA TT AArunadatta, the author of' Sarvanqa

Sundara' commentary on AshtangaHridaya was the son of Mrigankadattaand believed to be a native of Benqal'.He belongs to the early part of the 13thcentury. He was a multifarious scholarhaving rich knowledge oj severalbranches of ancient learnings such asSahitya (Literature), Vy.akar a na(Grammer), and Ayurveda (Science oflife) etc. Hemadri who belongs to thesame century and a number of othercelebrated scholars of later period haveextensively quoted Arunadatta as anauthority on several subjects. This hashelped in placing him conveniently inthe early part of the 13th century i.e.1220 A.D.2

Arunadatta's commentary SaNan-ga Sundara which brought him fame

has been acclaimed by the critics asone of the best works on Vagbhata'sAshtanga Hridaya. According to manyscholars and Vaidyas, the commentarySarvanga Sundara is indeed the mostwonderful and beautiful as authornamed it very suitably"

Vagbhata's Ashtanga Hridaya iswidely read book. It had been studiedby the contemporary scholars/belong-ing even to the other countries and hasthus attracted a lot of attention. Natu-rally, several scholars have attemptedto write commentaries on AshtangaHridaya. There is enough evidence tobelieve that, a number of scholars havewritten commentaries in different lan-guages on Ashtanga Hridaya. A list ofsuch commentaries is as follows:

• Assistant Research Officer, (Ayu.) I.i.H.M. O.M.C. Putlibowli, Hyderabad 500095 (INDIA).

1. Ashtanga Hridaya by Kunte A.M., P. 232. 'Surgical Instruments of the Hindus' by Mukhopadhayaya, G.N., Vol. 1, P.No. 24.3. Luminaries of Indian Medicine by Srikantha Murthy K.R. P. 65

Arunadatta and Hemadri - Subhakta

SI. No. Name of the author Name of the commentary Language

1. Arunadatta Sarvanga Sundara Sanskrit2. Ashadhara Ashtanga Hridayoddyota

orUddyota

3. Atridevagupta Vidyotini Hindi4. Chandranandana Padarthaguna Chandrika Sanskrit

or or andChandrachandana Gunapatha Tibetan

r Damodara Sanketamanjari Sanskrit".6. Hatakanka (ga) Ashtanga Hridaya Dipika7. Hemadri - Ayurvedarasayana "8. Indu Shashilekha9. Kahnaprabhu Nidana Chintamani

orNidanasthana

10. Narahari (Bhatta) Vagbhatakhandanamandanaor

Nrusimha Kavi11. Parameshvara Vakyapradipika "12. Ravi Vyakhyasara "13. Ramanatha14. Ramanujacharya Telugu15. Shankara Sharman La/itha Sanskrit16. Shivadasasen Tatvabodha Sanskrit

(on Uttarasthana)17. Shivasharma Shivadipika Hindi18. Sridharapandita Hridaya(Pra) bodhika Sanskrit19. Todaramalla20. Udayadityabhatta Hridayaprabodhika Sanskrit

orSuvarnapurandhara

21. Uppottakannan Bhaskara Malayalam"22. Vagbhata Ashtanga Hridayanama Sanskrit

Vaidyuryaka Bhashya andTibetan

23. Vasudeva Anvayamala Sanskrit24. Vishveshvarapandita Vigneyartha Prakashika Sanskrit25. Andhrateeka Telugu26. Kairali27. Pathya28. Balaprabodhika Sanskrit29. Brihatpathya30. Brihadvyakhyasara31. Vyakhya "32. Hridayabodhika33. Hridya

BuIUnd.lnst.Hist.Med. Vol. XXVII. 1997

The three of the above commentar-ies viz. Arundatta's Sarvanga Sundara;Chandranandana's PadarthagunaChandrika and Hemadri's AyurvedaRasayana are very famous.'Parentage And Birth Place:

Though Arunadatta's place of birthis not specified any where, but it isbelieved that he was native of Bengal.He has mentioned about his parentagein the introductory verse and colophoneat the end of each chapter of his com-mentary. So, on this basis it can beascertained that, he belonged to thesect of Vaidika and his fathers namewas Mrigankadatta.Date:

The historians are of the opinionthat Arunadatta lived in the period ofearly 13th century. He was quoted byHemadri, who has clear historical evi-dence of his period and patronage. It istherefore concluded that Arunadattalived earlierto Hemadri, who belongs to

27

the later part of the 13th century.Hence Arunadatta can safely be

placed in the early part of the 13thcentury i.e. about 1220 A.D5His Works:

Arunadatta's commentary Sarvan-ga Sundara on Ashtanga Hridaya isheld in high esteem in view of its easydiction and lucid expansion. And when-ever necessary he has commented withthe help of his own shlokas for thebenefit of the readers. Apart from deal-ing with the subject of Ashtanga Hridaya,Arunadatta deals with the literary as-pects of the work also explaining atlength the grammatical and poeticalaspects of it. Fortunately his SarvangaSundara is available in full text. He isalso credited with a similar commentaryon Sushruta Samhita and another inde-pendent work "ManushyalayaChandrika" dealing with geology andarchitecture, but these two works arenot available nowadays.

2. HEMADRIHemadri was a celebrated scholar In the Chaturvarga Chintamani he has

of his time who wrote the famous com- mentioned that he was incharge of thementary on Ashtanga Hridaya entitled state records of King Mahadeva of"Ayurveda Rasayana." Fortunatelywe Devagiri (1260-71 A.D.).6 From thefind clear historical evidence with re- Ayurveda Rasayana commentary andgard to his identity, parentage and pa- contemporary inscriptions, he appearstronage. In the prelude of his Ayurveda to have been the architect and chiefRasayana he introduces himself and minister of Ramachandra (1271-1309says, this commentory was written with AD.), the successor of King Mahadeva'.an aim to felicitate people in attainment There is also evidence to believe thatof good health. His another work he functioned as the Judge in the court"Chaturvarga Chintamani" is an of King Ramachandra. It is said that itencyclopaedia of ancient religious rites. was Hemadri who brought changes in4. 'Ashtanga Hridaya' by Ramprasad Sharma, P.No. 35. Studies in the medicine of ancient India by Hoernle, A.F.R. Vol. 1, P.No. 17.6. Ashanga Hridaya by A.M. Kunte P.No. 117. Ibid.

28 Arunadatta and Hemadri - Subhakta

the then Devanagari script to make it tator flourished had great emphasis inmore popular script among the contem- the framing of his personality. Hemadri'sporary scholars and he named the matchless and unique personality, schol-changed version of the script as "Modi arship and achievements can be struc-Script:". tured not only through his works butGenealogy: also through the other historical mate-

Hemadri was the son of Kamadeva, rial related to his patron Kings namelygrandson of Vasudeva, great grandson Mahadeva and Ramachandra ofof Va mana who hails from Vatsa Gotra9. Yadav dynasty (1260-1309).Personality Of Hemadri: Place And Date:

His towering personality can be as- Hemadri was from a Manarasntriansessed through his illustratious schol- Orthodox Brahmin family. He workedarlyworksand achievements. Hisworks in the court of King Mahadeva and hisstand forvoratiousness, profile genious, son, King Ramachandra. Hence thelong experience, practical training, scrip- period of existence of both these Kingstural, astrological geographical and can safely be attributed to Hemadri.dravyaguna knowledge etc. The Royal So, Hemadri must have lived betweenpatronage under whom the commen- 1260 to 1309 A.D. 10

Predecessors Quoted By HemadriCommentators quoted by Hemadri in his work, Ayurveda Rasayana are as follows:

1. Arunadatta2. Chandranandana (or)

Chandrachandana3. Dalhana4.lndu5. Jejjeta6. Madhavakara7. Sharangadhara8. Srikanthadatta9. Vapya chandra10. Vangasena11. Vrindakunda12. Vijayarakshita

(1220 A.D.)(11th A.D.)

(1220 AD.)( first quarter of 12th century)(7th A.D.)(700 AD.)(11th to 13th AD.)(12th AD.)(last quarter of 10th A.D.)(13th A.D.)(975 to 1000 A.D.)(1120 A.D.)

Scholars and WorKs Quoted By HemadriFOllowing scholars and scholarly works have been quoted by Hemadri:

1. Atreya 3. Ashwini Kumaras2. Agnivesha 4. Ashtanga Sangraha

8. Astanga hridaya by A.M. Kunte, P.No. 119. Catalogus catalogorum by Aufrecht Part-t , P.No.768.10. Ibid.

BuIUnd.lnst.Hist.Med. Vol. XXVI/' 1997

5. Ashtanga Hridaya6. Ayurveda Prakasha7. Brihat Samhita8. Bhihaspati9. Brahmadeva10. Bhattara Harishchandra11. Bhrugu12. Bhela13. Charaka14. Chaturvarga Chintamani15. Chikitsakalika16. Dhanvantarinighantu17. Dharmashastram18. Goutama19. Hareeta20. Jyotisha Shastram21. Kapila22. Kashyapa

His Works:His greatest contribution is the

"Ayurveda Rasayana' commentary onAshtanga Hridaya. This commentaryhas commanded great respect from allthe Ayurvedic scholars for being anerudite dissertation. This work waswritten at the instance of KingRamachandra. Hemadri in his intro-ductory paragraph of the commentarymentions that his commentary was writ-ten with an aim to felicitate people inattainment of good health. It follows thedoctrines of previous works such asCharaka Samhita, Sushruta Samhita,Harita Samhita and others without re-peating what already has been said bythe commentators of those works."

In order to make his commentaryvery useful, Hemadri followed a sys-tematic and methodical approach to-

29

23. Keshavapandita24. Kharanadi25. Manu26. Madhavakara27. Parashara28. Rasa Ayurveda29. Ramaraja30. Rigvinishchaya31. Sharangadhara Samhita32. Sounaka33. Siddhayoga34. Sushruta35. Vagabhatacharya36. Vaidehadipa37. Vishwamitra38. Vrinda39. Vedavadina40. Yogaratnam

wards the problems analysing criticallyby surveying the previous works. As hecame from an illustrious family and alsobeing patronised by the Kings he hadgot naturally all commentaries to hisaccess which were studied by him thor-oughly. In this commentary apart fromthe following original, in respect of theorder of chapters the author has suit-ably changed wherever he felt neces-sary for the purpose of giving a betterunderstanding with regard to the re-spective topics.

Unfortunately, only a part of hisgreat commentary is available today.Although as there is no doubt that, hehad written a complete commentary,only the portions of the commentaryrelating to the Sutra, Kalpa Sthanas, thefirst five chapters of Nidana Sthana andfirst six chapters of Chikitsa Sthana are

11. Vagbhata's Ashtanga Hridaya Samhita by Claus vogel P.No. 16.

30

available. But with great difficulty andsearch among different archives themanuscript of the commentary relatingto "Nidana" has been traced and ob-tained by the scholars and histcrians."They are also hopeful that one day theentire work would be traced and madeavailable for the study.

His another important contributionChaturvarga Chintamani is voluminouswork running into several thousands ofpages, written at the instance of KingMahadeva. This work is prior to theAyurveda Rasayana because, in theprelude of his commentary he intro-duces himself as the author ofChaturvarga Chintamani. It deals withall facts of kingship and state craft basedupon "Hindudharma." Copious refer-ences from ancient authorities haveincreased the authority of the book. It issaid to be an encyclopaedia of ancienttraditions and religion rites, quoting fre-quently from the Smritis and Puranas.

1. Chaturvarga Chintamani2. Kala Niryana3. Ayurveda Rasayana4. Kalanirnaya Sankshepa5. Tithi Nirnaya6. Kaivalyadipika7. Dhanavakyavali

Arunadatta and Hemadri - Subhakta

The following parameters are tounderstand his illustrious towering per-sonality gleaned out from ChaturvargaChintamani and Ayurveda Rasayana,commentary".

1. Scriptural Knowledge.2. Astrological Knowledge.3. Geographical Knowledge.4. Dravyaguna Knowledge.Besides these two works, there are

several other works also attributed toHemadri.

According to Prof. Aufrecht "Hemadri is erudited to be the author ofthe following works:1. Kaivalya dipika (Muktaphala tika)2. Commentary on Saunaka's

Pranavakalpa3. Shraddhapaddhati4. Hemadriprayoga5. Nasashantayah (from Shanti -

khanda)Besides, Prof. Padhye also men-

tions the following 13 works:

8. Parjanya Prayoga9. Pratishta10. Lakshana Samuchchaya11. Hemadri Nibandha12. Tristhalavidhi13. Arthakandha

There was another Hemadri who wrote "Raghuvamshadarpana" whose fatherwas Ishwarasuri.

12. Vagbhata' s Ashtanga Hridaya by Claus Vogel P No.1113. Contribution of Hemadri, Thesis by Dr. G.R. R. Chakravarty P.No. 514. Cal.Cal. by Aufrecht, Part I & III P.Nos. 786 & 52 respectively.

BuIUnd.lnst.Hist.Med. Vol. XXVI/' 1997 31

REFERENCES1.Aufrecht 1962 'Catalogus Catalogorum' Part I & III

Pub by FRANZ STEINER, VERLAGWIES BADEN.

2. Chakravathy G.R.R. 1990 'Contributions of Hemadri' the com -mentator of the Astanga Hridaya, inthe field of Basic Principles, thesisunder Prof. Jyotir Mitra, B.H.U. -VARANASI - 221 005.,

3. Claus Vogel 1965 "Vagbhata's Ashtanga Hridaya Sam-hita" Pub by FRANZ STEINERGMBH, WIESBADEN

4. Hoernle, A.F.R. 1907 Studies in the medicine of AncientIndia Vol. I Pub. in University ofOXFORD.

5. Kunte A.M. & Navre K.R.S. 1982 'Ashtanga Hridaya' of Vagbhata edi.by Pt. Paradhkar Akola, Pub. ByChowkhamba, Sanskrit series office,VARANASI.

6. Mukhopadhyaya, G.N. 1913 'Surgical instruments of the Hindus'VoLl Pub. by Calcutta University.

7. Ram Prasad Sharma 1928 'Ashtanga Hridaya' of Vagbhata, for-ward by Shivasharma, pub. byShri Venkateshwara Mudralaya.

8. Rama Chandra Rao 1985 'Encyclopaedia of Indian medicine'Vol.l pub. by Ramdas Bhatkal, -Bombay.

9. Srikanthamurthy, K.R. 1968 'Luminaries of Indian Medicine' 1stEdn. Pub. by Author, Mysore -4.

32 Arunadatta and Hemadri - Subhakta

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